Gators finish off Georgia's hopes of perfect season

Published 4:30 am, Sunday, October 30, 2005

Party leaves Georgia staggering

Gators finish off Bulldogs' hopes of perfect season by continuing to dominate series

Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

JACKSONVILLE, FLA. - This Cocktail Party might have been a savory setup for Florida's real celebration. And once again Georgia's national title hopes were sunk in the River City.

Chris Leak threw a touchdown pass and ran for a score, and the Gators used an impressive defensive performance to take down the previously unbeaten Bulldogs 14-10 on Saturday at the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party.

No. 16 Florida (6-2, 4-2 Southeastern Conference) defeated its rival to the North for the 14th time in the last 16 meetings, and kept alive hopes of winning the SEC East and returning to the league title game for the first time since 2000.

The Gators need to beat Vanderbilt and South Carolina and have Georgia lose one of its remaining games against Auburn and Kentucky to win the division.

"A lot of people counted us out after that devastating LSU loss," Florida defensive tackle Marcus Thomas said. "Now, we're back in the race for the SEC."

The fourth-ranked Bulldogs (7-1, 5-1) don't require help in the SEC. They need to win out to advance to the conference championship game for the third time in four years. In the national title race, however, Georgia is all but done.

The annual game played out a lot like it did in 2002, when the three-loss Gators handed Georgia its first loss of the season This one wasn't an upset, though.

Playing without injured quarterback D.J. Shockley, Georgia was an underdog in a series dominated by Florida since former coach Steve Spurrier took over in 1990.

Defensive end Jeremy Mincey made three huge plays on Georgia's final two drives. He tackled Thomas Brown for an eight-yard gain that prevented points early in the fourth quarter. Georgia had to settle for a 52-yard field-goal attempt, which hit the right upright.

Mincey also affected two passes by Tereshinski on the last drive. He batted one down one at the line of scrimmage and nearly sacked the quarterback on fourth down. Tereshinski's desperation pass fell incomplete, and the Gators ran out the clock.

Tereshinski finished 8-of-21 for 100 yards in his first college start. Brown and Danny Ware combined for 125 yards on the ground.